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Leominster City Council orders salary review for town employees

By Jack Minch, jminch@sentinelandenterprise.com

Updated:
01/28/2014 06:38:17 AM EST

LEOMINSTER -- City Council President Rick Marchand assigned to the Ways & Means Committee the task of reviewing the ordinance governing salaries of department heads at the request of Mayor Dean Mazzarella, who is having trouble finding a director for the Public Works Department.

The committee will arrange a meeting with Human Resources Director John Harmon, said at-large Councilor Claire Freda, who chairs Ways & Means.

Mazzarella appeared in front of the council Monday night to update members on ongoing projects.

He had hoped interim Public Works Department Ray Racine would take the job full time, but it isn't worth it financially compared to his salary as assistant director.

The city ordinance is set up so that new hires are limited in how much they can make.

If they are joining the city government, they start at the lowest rung of their pay grade, and if they already work for the city, they can move up a pay grade plus one step on the salary scale.

However, a department head can't make overtime and is on call around the clock, so in some cases, there's no financial incentive to move up, Mazzarella said.

"So you might have an assistant that actually makes more money as an assistant than they do as a department head," he said. "It doesn't make sense to take on the responsibility, be on call 24/7 and take the same amount of money or, in some cases, less.

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Mazzarella said he hopes to find a way to make the promotion work for Racine, but needs to start over on the candidate search.

Freda said she's interested in looking at the vacation package.

"I think sometimes it's an employment breaker," Freda said.

Former DPW Director Pat Lapointe retired in April 2013.

In other business, the council confirmed the hiring of William Mitchell as the chief assessor to succeed the retiring Walter Poirier.

Poirier is scheduled to retire Feb. 13 but has agreed to assist the transition after that date.

Mitchell has been the principal assessor for Sturbridge more than six years, and before that worked for Worcester.

Mitchell bought a travel agency in January 2001, and when business fell off after Sept. 11, 2001, he became a real-estate assessor to supplement his income.

The city must still hire a third assessor for the three-member board, and is still accepting applications.

"We have six very qualified candidates we will be actively pursuing," Harmon said.

At-large Councilor John Dombrowski said he was concerned about Mitchell's level of experience with commercial property, but Mazzarella defended his pick.

Freda is a also a real-estate appraiser, and said she likes Mitchell's apparent commitment to dealing with the public.

"I think the ability to deal with the public is very important," she said. "I'm very comfortable with the appointment."

Also on Monday night, the council voted, with only Freda dissenting, to restrict parking on DeCicco Drive near the Fall Brook Elementary School. No parking will be allowed on the east side of the road from the south end of the ball field to the intersection with Union Street.

Police traffic Officer Aaron Kennedy told Ward 3 Councilor David Cormier before the meeting that Chief Robert Healey already has authority to suspend parking when needed, but that didn't dissuade support for the change.

"I do support making this law tonight and passing the second reading," Cormier said.

Freda said she couldn't support the ordinance change after the school principal opposed the move and the Police Department recommended against it.

The council also approved $2,000 to buy a machine to thaw the ground for burial plots. The money will be drawn from the cemetery perpetual-care income account, which has $1.3 million, according to at-large Councilor Bob Salvatelli.

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